The Arthur G Dozier School For Boys (also known as the Florida School For Boys) was established in Marianna, Florida, in 1900. The school was segregated, with one area for black boys and one area for white boys. Boys were sent here for a number of reasons, some of which were legitimate and some were not. Boys who got up to nonsense like petty theft, fighting, skipping school, etc were sent here. Others were boys whose families didn't want them. Some were sent there by "officials" who thought they should go for stupid things like smoking. While at these schools, education was not really a thing. They were beaten mercilessly, forced into physical labor, raped, locked in solitary confinement for days or weeks on end, and kept from speaking to their family members. They were also kept in shackles sometimes. It was extremely overcrowded.

There was a cemetery on the grounds, known as Boot Hill Cemetery. Boys that died while at the school were buried here. (In some cases. They were also hired out to farms to perform what was essentially slave labor and those that died at the farms were not returned to their families or the school in a lot of cases.) The official claim was that around 30 boys were buried there, mostly due to illnesses and the ones who died in a fire. (Those that died in the fire were white boys who were chained to their beds while the guards went into town to live it up. Horrific.) Extensive forensic investigations were carried out by the author and her team in 2011 when the school was officially closed and plans were in the works to sell the property. Many family members wanted to know what happened to their loved ones who never came home. Some were told they died of illness and some were told they ran away. Others who knew for sure that their family members were buried there simply wanted the remains returned to them to be buried elsewhere and not sold with the property. The forensic investigation was a really complicated process, not helped along by the fact that the town was extremely racist and wanted to ignore or forget about the terrible things that were done to people by themselves or their elders. This woman had way more patience than I would have in dealing with these obtuse and irritating people in this town. (At one point they said the investigation was going to kill tourism, but I have no idea why anyone would want to visit this town if the people that live in it behave the way that so many of them did.)

I bought this book on accident, originally thinking it was a book about Native residential schools. I was slightly disappointed, but I had never heard about this place or these boys. I learned a great deal from this book about how one conducts forensic archaeology projects, and how important it is to remember things that happened in OUR COLLECTIVE HISTORY and not bury or dismiss it. This book was also really infuriating. The attitudes of many of the local townspeople were disgusting and made me want to throw bricks at them. The hiding, lying, run around, and gossiping was disgraceful. The treatment of CHILDREN in this "school" was beyond cruel and abhorrent. Even if they were "bad" kids, they did not deserve to be treated the way they were and damaged physically and mentally for the rest of their lives. I also have to say that I am a born and raised Southerner (I wish I wasn't, because I do not belong here) and this book really solidified the stereotypes that people have of the South. People in the South cannot seem to imagine why people think so negatively about them, but I mean....come on.... I can certainly see why. I also encourage you to look up interviews on YouTube or the news given by men who were incarcerated in this place as children. It is horrific and heartbreaking. This book is a must read.